Mothproof garment bag



Nov. 25, B952 1 1 MIN-rz 2,619,225

MoTHPRooF GARMENT BAG Filed sept. 26, 195o Patented Nov. 25, 1952MOTHPR'O 0F GARMEN'I." BAG Jacob J. Mintz, Plainfield, NLJ., assigner toA. L. Siegel Co., Inc., New York, N.' Y., a corporation of NewYorkApplication September 26,1950, SerialiNo. 186,720

2 Claims. l

The present invention relates toa -garmentbag construction and inparticular to animprovement over that type of mothproof-garmentbagvconstruction disclosed in mycopending application Serial No. 103,470 ofJuly 7, 1949entitled Mothproof Garment Bag, `novv Patent Nog-2,591,277,issued April 1, 1952, and assigned to the assignee of the presentapplication.

Garment bags have, inthe course of'their development, assumed a. widevariety of forms. The

lone which has met vvith most widespreadpublic acceptance includes top,bottom, side,rand Vend Walls, the-shape hof ythe bagbeing imparted by 'arigid frame which supports the'top Wall yand from which garments maybesuspended; The Walls of this type of bag .are normally made of flexiblesynthetic plastic sheeting, .andmost commonly of a vinyl resin, and oneof the `end walls is `usually provided with a slide fastener closurethrough which garments may be inserted into or removed from the bag.

Such bags, While readily useable at most vtimes for the storage ofgarments, have not proved to be particularly useful forfthe storage ofgarments over the summer, since the material of which the bag is formedis'not of a nature such that it can be impregnated with mothproongmaterial. Consequently, it `has beenV necessary, when storingwinterclothes, to utilize different garmentbags, usually made of'anon-plastic material such as paper which has been impregnated With asuitable mothproong substance.

The non-adaptable nature of the plastic garment bag, insofar asmothproofing is concerned, has been an important drawback to the fullestacceptance of such bags by the public, since each householder is thusrequired to have a separate set of bags used only during the summer and,because over the period of a year the impregnation in the material ofthe bags becomes eXtremely dissipated, usually useable only for onesummer. Consequently, various expedients have been resorted to in anattempt to render the plastic type garment bag, which is inherentlypreferable because of improved appearance and improved ease ofaccessibility to garments, useable all year round andl convertible fromWinter to summer useat will. One expedient proposed has been to sprinklea suitable mothproong substance, su-ch as paradichlorobenzene, insidethe bag so that its vapors-will ll the bag and serve to protect theclothes stored'therein. This expedient Ihas `not proved particularlysuccessful 2 both .because the usual mothproong materials tend to reactwithV the` vinyl plastic sheets which dene'the walls of the bagsoastocausethem to become hard and brittle, andbecause the loose mothproongmaterials create problemsY of their ovvn insofar Vas health andcleanliness areconcerned, particularly if a garment should.vaccidentally fall to the-bottom-of the container and into apile of loose`mothpro'oiing materiali The former of thesedicultiescanlbe'ioverc'omeby lining the bag with a liiexible polyethylene sheet,asset forth in 'the copending applicationof Enianual London,V SerialNo.Y 35,371, ledJune 20, 1948, and entitled Moth Proofing ResistantPlastic Garment Bag, now Patent No. 2,584,722, issued February 5,` 1952,assigned to the assignee of the present application. The latterdisadvantage is, however, more fundamental.`

It has also been-proposed to provide the garment bag with a containerseparate and distinct from the Walls thereof and securable onfthe insideof the garment bag, into which container mothproong material nmay beplaced when f desired.v In thismanner the garment bag is renderedconvertible from mothproong to nonmothprooiing use, but since an extracontainer is required, additional expense is involved. The containerswhen not in use either form an unsightly addition to 'the garment bag ifpermanently secured thereto or'ten'd to become lost during thenon-summer months if removable therefrom.

In the said ccpending application-SerialNo. 103,470 a garment bagk isdisclosed which' canr be efficiently used as a mothproong-containerWithout any of the disadvantagesfset forth above and which is just asYreadily converted into anonmothproofing garment bag foruse duringl mostof the year. To this end, at least one of the Walls of the garment bag,and perhaps most-convenientlythe top Wall thereof, is made of multi-plyconstruct-ion, two of theplies of Which'formbetween themselves a spacefor receivinga Vsupply of vapor-emitting nmothprooiing material, theinner ply being permeable to mothprooflng vapors vbut impermeable to themothproong material itself, the outer ply or plies having an openingthrough which the mothproongmaterial, can be introduced into 'the spacebetvveen the plies. A slide Vfastener is femployed for. closing thatopening :after the moth'proo'fingima'- teria-l `has 4been placed betweenthe plies, inorder 3 to retain the mothproong material therein and alsoin order to prevent escape of mothproong vapors into the closet or roomwhere the garment bag may be hung.

Mothproofing materials of the type interposed between the plies tend toevaporate or otherwise deteriorate over a period of time, and theirreplenishment is necessary from time to time if full mothproofingprotection is to be achieved.

Since the structure of the garment bag is such that all or substantiallyall of the mothproofing vapors are retained within the garment bag, itis usually impossible to determine the status of the mothproong materialwhile the garment bag is closed. Hence, whether or not adequateanti-moth protection is being achieved cannot be known without eitheropening the garment bag itself or the space in which the .solidmothproong material is retained. Either of these steps is undesirable,not only because it permits the escape of mothprooflng vapors into theroom with attendant discomfort, but also because it reduces theconcentration of mothproong vapors Within the garment bag and henceweakens the effect f the mothproong material.

In order to avoid the above disadvantages, it has been found desirableto form the outer ply of the multi-ply structure between which the solidmothproong material is received so that at least a part of it istransparent. Hence the status of the mothproofing material containedbetween the plies can be observed at any time without disturbing theinterior of the garment bag.

One constructional problem which presented itself in the garment bag ofthe said copending application Serial No. 103,470 was to provide anadequate seal at the points where the hooks secured to the frame whichsupports the garment bag pass through the top wall. It has been foundthat the difficulties attendant thereupon can be eliminated by providinga multi-ply structure in the top wall which does not cover the entirewall, but instead extends from a line adjacent the end edge of the topwall toward but short of that area of the top wall which is pierced topermit the hooks to pass therethrough. Suicient space is provided bythis new construction for the reception of an adequate supply ofmothproong material, and at the same time observation of the amount andcondition of the mothproong material is facilitated, since a window maybe provided which has an area constituting a substantial proportion ofthe area in which the mothproofing material is retained.

To the attainment of the foregoing advantages and for such other objectsas may hereinafter appear the present invention relates to theconstruction of a garment bag as defined in the appended claims and asdescribed in the specication, taken together with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a three-quarter perspective view of the garment `bag of thepresent invention taken from above;

Fig. 2 is a top view thereof with a part broken away;

Fig. 3 is a side cross-sectional View thereof on an enlarged scale takenalong the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view taken on an enlarged scalealong the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

The garment bag embodying the present invention which is hereillustrated takes the general rectangular form which is characteristicof most garment bags on the market, but it will be understood that theparticular shape of the bag forms no part of the present invention. Thebag disclosed comprises a top Wall 2, a bottom wall 3, side walls 4 and6, and end walls 8 and l0, the end wall 8 being provided with theconventional vertical slide fastener closure I2 so as to provide accessto the interior of the bag. The top wall 2 is given shape by means of ametal frame I4 (see Figs. 3 and 4, Where the frame is illustrated inbroken lines), the frame including a central portion IB from which thegarments may be suspended, hooks I8, passing through the top wall 2,being secured to the frame I4 and usually to the central portion I6thereof so that the entire garment bag with the garments therein may behung from a. clothes rod 20.

As here illustrated, the vapor-emitting mothproofing material such ascamphor, paradichlorobenzene and the like, is adapted to be received ina space formed in top wall 2, that wall being preferred because of theease in achieving smooth distribution of mothproong material in thespace adapted to contain it. However, any one of the walls of thegarment bag could also be used to the same end whether in place of or inaddition to the top wall 2. The wall 2 is here disclosed as of multi-plyconstruction including an inner ply 22 of polyethylene sheeting or othersuitable material which is resistant to the deteriorative action of .themothproong substance, an outer ply 24 of vinyl resin sheeting or othersimilar material adapted to impart suiicient strength to the garmentbag, and an intermediate ply 26 of polyethylene or the like interposedbetween the inner and outer plies 22 and 24 in order to lnsulate theouter vinyl ply 24 from the deteriorative action of the mothproongsubstance. It will be noted that, in the form here specificallydisclosed, the inner ply 22 is of considerably lesser area than the topwall 2, and preferably extends over less than half of the area of thetop wall 2, from one end edge to a line short of the middle of the topwall 2. The inner ply 22 is secured at least to the intermediate ply 26along all of its edges, the body of the inner ply 22 being separablefrom the body of the intermediate ply 26 so as to dene therebetween aspace 34 adapted to receive and hold a supply of vapor-emittingmothproofing material.

If desired, in order to enhance the decorative appearance of the garmentbag and also in order to give some inherent structural rigidity to thetop Wall 2, stuffing 3U may be placed between the plies 24 and 26, theplies being stitched together by means of stitching 32 so as to form aquilted effect.

The essential characteristic of the inner ply 22 is that it be permeableto the mothproong vapors emitted by the mothproofing material. so thatsaid vapors can fill the interior of the garment bag and thus performtheir mothprooilng function with respect to the garments stored in thebag, and yet not be permeable to the solid mothproofing material itself,so that said material is retained within the space 34 and is notpermitted to directly contact the garments stored in the lbag or fallinto the interior of the bag so as to present problems of health andcleanliness. When the inner ply 22 is formed of polyethylene sheeting,which is not itself inherently vapor-permeable, the sheeting is providedwith a plurality of small spaced perforations 36 of a size such that thegranules of solid mothproong material cannot pass therethrough. If theinner ply 22 should be made of some not too tightly woven fabric whichwould therefore be inherently vaporpermeable, it would not be necessaryto provide the perforations 36, since the mothproofing vapors could passthrough such a ply Z2 and into the interior of the bag without anyartificial aid.

A portion of the top wall 2 covering the space 3d is provided with atransparent panel or insert.

31 which is formed of some flexible material which will not undulyrigidify the top wall 2 so as to destroy its desirable flexiblecharacteristics, but which is nevertheless sufiiciently transparent sothat the mothprooiing material in the space 35i can be observed. Whilevinyl resin sheeting could be employed for this purpose, it has .beenfound desirable to utilize sheets of cellulose acetate, this substancehaving sufcient ilexibility and exhibiting improved properties ofdurability and transparency. When, as is here speciiically illustrated,the space 34 encompasses only a small proportion of the area of the topwall 2, the panel 3l may conveniently be made with an area constitutinga substantial proportion of the area of the space 3d, therebyfacilitating observation of all portions of the space 313. The panel 3lmay be secured to the underside of a cut out portion of the top wall 2,as by stitching 39, a binding tape @I surrounding the cut edges so as tohide the raw edges and enhance the appearance of the bag. That portionof the top wall 2 covering the space 3d is made as non-vapor-permeableas is convenient consonant with appearance and construction problems.When plastic sheeting of the vinyl or polyethylene type is employed,which sheeting is inherently non-vapor-permeable, no special provisionsneed be made to attain this end. When the quilting effect specificallydisclosed is embodied into the garment bag, the passage of the stitching32 through the plastic plies 2li and 23 renders the outer portion of thetop wall slightly vapor-permeable but not to any appreciable degree.

In order to provide access to the space 36 so that the mothproongmaterial can be inserted therein when it is desired that the garment bagbe used for mothproong purposes or removal l therefrom when it isdesired that the garment bag not be so used, the upper portion of thewall 2 is provided, over the space 36, with a closeable opening 33defined by the slide fastener closure dll. The slide fastener lill ispreferably of the tightly fitting type so as to prevent to as great adegree as possi-ble escape of mothproong vapors therethrough.

The side walls 4 and 6 and the end walls 3 and Ill are also preferablyof two-ply construction, the outer ply 42 being of vinyl sheeting orother strong material and the inner ply 44 being of polyethylenesheeting or other similar material resistant to the deteriorative actionof the mothproong material. The meeting edges of the various walls aresewn together along the edges of the bag as by the stitching 46, whichalso may serve to secure a suitable decorative plastic tape 48 to thebag so as to hide the raw edges of the various sheets.

Eyelets 5I) are provided where the hooks I8 pass through the top wall 2.When, as here specifically disclosed, the inner ply 22 extends to a lineshort of the middle of the top wall 2, and when the hooks I8 passthrough the top Wall 2 at its middle, no special precautions arenecessary to ensure that lmothproong vapor -will Inot escape around thehooks I8.

The construction above described denes a garment bag substantiallyindistinguishable in internal and external appearance from conventionalgarment bags (except for the existence :o f `the slide fastener closure40 onV the top wall 2), and one which maybe-constructed in the`samelmanner and for lsubstantially the same cost as conventionalgarment bags, but which is nevertheless convertible at will fromconventional use to mothproong use and which may bereconverted toconventional use whenever desired. Consequently, the same garment bagcan be used for the storage of the same garments throughout the year.During thesummer months a supply of mothproong material may be linsertedinto the space 34 via the opening 38 and the slide fastener closure di),the vapors emitted from that `mothprooiing material passing through thevapor-permeable inner ply 22 and saturating the interior of the garmentbag. When the months of moth danger have passed, the mothproong materialcan be readily removed from the space 34 via the opening 38, and thegarment bag can then be used in conventional manner. Each summer a freshsupply of mothproong material can be introduced into the space 313, thuspermitting the use of the same garment bag over a large number of yearswith maximum mothproong efciency each summer. The mothproong material isretained in an enclosure which is an integral part of the garment bagconstruction, thus reducing the possibility that the said mothprooflngmaterial might have an allergic or health-injurious effect upon theindividuals in whose homes it is used and eliminating the possibilitythat the mothproofing material might come in contact with the clothesstored in the bag, from which its removal is relatively difficult, orthat it might spill or be spilled around the closet or the house, thusraising a dicult cleaning problem. Since the container for themothproong material is integrally built into the garment bag structure,it is always ready for use when desired, and by reason of the mode ofconstruction of the garment bag, the presence of the container does notin any way detract from the decorative appearance of the garment bag orpresent any impediment to its use.

The construction here specifically disclosed, which includes thetransparent panel 37, permits the contents of the space 34 to beobserved at any time without disturbing the interior of the garment bagin any way. Hence ample warning of the evaporation or deterioration ofthe mothprooing material contained within the space 34 can be obtainedwithout any sacrifice of antimoth protection.

It will be apparent that many variations may be made in the presentinvention without departing from the scope thereof as defined in thefollowing claims.

I claim;

1. A garment bag comprising top, side and bottom walls formed of soft,exible sheet material, a frame of a size and shape conforming to that ofsaid top wall adapted to be positioned immediately beneath said top walland comprising a cross piece having hooks extending upwardly therefromand through said top wall so that the garment bag may be suspendedthereby, said top wall being partially of multi-ply construction so asto denne a space into which solid mothproong material can be introduced,the inner ply extending under only a minor area of said top` wall andonly between the cross piece of said frame and the edges of said topwall to one side of said cross piece, the inner ply and the outer plybeing secured together at all of their edges but separated from oneanother over their areas so as to dene between themselves a fully closedspace, said inner ply being formed of a soft flexible sheet resistant tothe action of mothproofng material and having perforations through whichthe mothproong vapors can pass but through which solid mothprooingmaterial cannot pass, said outer ply being substantially impermeable tomothproong vapors and having an opening above said inner ply throughwhich said solid mothproong material can be introduced into the spacebetween said plies through the exterior of said garment bag and Withoutdisturbing the contents of said bag, a slide fastener closure for saidopening, and at least a portion of said outer ply being composed of aflexible transparent material positioned opposite a portion of saidinner ply, so that the solid mothproofing material in the space betweensaid plies may be observed without having to open said slide fastener.

2. The garment bag of claim 1, in which said top wall is formed of aquilted opaque material having a panel insert of a flexible transparentmaterial inserted therein over a portion of said inner ply and having anarea which is a major fraction of the area of the said inner ply.

JACOB J MINTZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

